


when the skies fall

by SwordOfQueen



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Dancer Kim Jongin | Kai, Drama, Eventual Romance, Family Secrets, Gardener Do Kyungsoo | D.O, Kinda, Kyungsoo with a flower crown, Light Angst, M/M, MAMA Era Powers (EXO), Magic, Minor Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Junmyeon | Suho, Minor Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Oh Sehun, Pining Kim Jongin | Kai, Prophecy, Royalty, Shapeshifting, prophecies actually
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23742100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SwordOfQueen/pseuds/SwordOfQueen
Summary: Kyungsoo is almost perfect. He’s kind, responsible, cute, funny and handsome —but he isn’t falling for Jongin although he should. No matter how hard Jongin tries.And that’s a problem thanks to those stupid prophecies.
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai
Comments: 23
Kudos: 83





	1. THE STORY

**Author's Note:**

> This is cross-posted on AFF, and was originally written for the 2020 Kaisoo day. My first language is not English, so you’re free to inform me of any grammatical errors that I have made. I’m socially extremely awkward —just telling this early. 
> 
> The poster I made for [when the skies fall](https://imgur.com/a/SBMRT6v) <3
> 
> A warning for cussing!

_ A drought that is to come, as a reprimand, accelerated by the fury of the greatest, the Ruleress of the Skies, the kind and devoted Skeliail. Her genuine ire born for those who vow loyalty in her name when getting into wedlock, but deem infidelity a right of theirs. The skies are to fall, the faults of the man forgiven, when the blood of Skeliail is bound to the truest of their love, gone misinterpretation, only left the lesson from the greatest, the Ruleress of the Skies, the impulsive and demanding Skeliail. _

## I

“JONGIN!”

A loud voice stirs the sleep of the person in question. Not bothering to react, he tries to catch his dream where it was before it got cut off.

Failing to do so, he groans and burrows more deeply into the soft sheets that are wrapped tightly around him. He hears a deep sigh somewhere around him but doesn’t react to it. 

“One, two”, the girl starts counting, “I didn’t want to do this— three.”

For a moment nothing happens and for Jongin, the situation seems too good to be true. Whoever came to wake him up let him sleep some more. He has to promote her to be his favorite maid —not that it really makes any difference to anyone.

The sheets around him are hot and it’s beginning to feel uncomfortable. He swings his legs outside the blanket to cool off, but as it doesn’t help, he reluctantly frees his head and arms from under the blanket too. 

He turns around onto his back to see what’s going on as the bed continues to get hotter by each second. He sees a glimpse of Seulgi’s face, before the temperature skyrockets and he’s pretty sure he’s being burned alive. He scrambles up on the bed, and to add to his misery, the fire magician breaks the light barrier on his window with a swipe of her hand, letting the room bathe in the full morning light.

Being blinded by the sudden sunlight, he automatically squeezes his eyes shut. Finally feeling the consequences of getting up abruptly, he is hit by a whiplash, making him stumble from the bed to the floor in a heap of limbs, banging his head to the wall. 

He groans and lays on the ground, defeated. Taking a while to adjust to the increased amount of light, he somewhat corrects his posture, still staying on the floor —for his safety. 

Seulgi just rolls her eyes at the mess called Jongin, “I take that my job here is done”, she backs to the door and looks up to the window above Jongin’s head, “Oh, I don’t know if you noticed it yet, but that flower has bloomed.”

Jongin turns around and sees the flower he got from his mother years ago, in bloom, yes, and extremely _alive_. Its former dull color is replaced by a vivid blue and it's no longer drooping, instead being healthy and frisky.

He has been unable to make the flower liven up like this for years, no matter what he tried, as his magic belongs to the sky. He smiles, knowing the change can't be thanks to anyone else’s but Kyungsoo's earth magic —he can almost _see_ Kyungsoo's power surrounding the flower.

“No, I hadn’t noticed yet”, he turns back to Seulgi, “Do you know if Kyungsoo has already eaten?”

Seulgi just smirks and singsongs over her shoulder on her way out, “Oh, when wouldn’t you want to know?”

Jongin rolls his eyes, getting up and closing the door she left open, beginning to change his clothes.

He loves Seulgi to bits —she’s like a sister to him— but the fire magician can be annoying as hell. She’s one of the only people he feels okay with being 100% himself, by wanting to laze around and talk back. She's usually the maid that comes to wake him up. Because of that, he has developed a habit of not waking up immediately, wanting to sleep longer.

He carefully tests if the bed is still hot, deeming it only slightly warm and sitting on it. He contemplates for a second on whether or not to put a hoodie over the T-shirt he’s wearing. Currently, the air in his room is cooler than what it is in the rest of the castle, thanks to Seulgi, who concentrated the warmth of the air into his bed. What a shame.

He knows its a privilege, getting someone to wake him up —belonging only to the team leaders and royal-blood— and he’d be in trouble without it (having learned that alarms don’t work on him anymore), so he can’t really complain, even if he wanted to.

He calculates that he doesn’t have much time to laze around anymore _if_ he wants to do everything he’s meaning to do before the 10 o’clock meeting of the performance team. And he wants, so he gets up, deciding to leave the hoodie in his room —it's the summer, so it should be okay—, and goes to brush his teeth before heading to breakfast.

∞

Jongin tries to keep his steps light, not wanting to alert anybody of his presence. He is allowed to be here, but the amount of time he has spent wandering around the Royal Gardens would —most likely— be somewhat questioned.

He follows the rich voice that is singing, luring him in and pulling him deeper into the gardens. Finally reaching the source of the voice, he stops and wills the air around him not to carry the sounds of his walking.

The familiar head of Kyungsoo, crowned with flowers, is hunched over one of the thousands of flowerbeds that are located in the Royal Gardens. By the looks, he’s singing to the flowers, working his magic on them. It all looks effortless, growing plants being in is nature as he's of Eserith's blood—making him the gardener for the Royal Family. 

Jongin would be able to watch Kyungsoo work his magic for hours on end. He gives his beautiful voice to the flowers, for magic to transform it into the beauty of the bloom. It's a unique way of controlling the powers they're gifted with —one more point to the list why Kyungsoo is amazing. 

When he first met Kyungsoo —at the age of fourteen—, he was curious. Having lived in the castle for all of his life, Kyungsoo was like a breath of fresh air. He was from the neighboring kingdom of Soidin and held the magic of Eserith, the magic of earth in him, unlike most of the people Jongin knew —his home being in Vapolune, being the blood of Skeliail and being associated with air and the sky. Of course, there was Seulgi, who had Firmas' fire magic in her, but she was born and raised in the castle too, so she was boring.

Kyungsoo mostly kept to himself —as he was supposed to stay in the castle of Vapolune only for the summer— but he still left an impression on Jongin. 

The boy who was a year older than him, with a flower crown growing from his head, was rational and very quiet, but nice to everyone and would offer help without batting an eye if somebody needed it. The playful side of Kyungsoo came out rarely, but when it did, it almost surely ended up with all of them in a laughing fit. He was fun to tease, the couple times Jongin had the chance to do so. His big eyes caught Jongin's staring at him a few times too many, but he never said anything of it.

Jongin was sad when he left — he missed observing the older boy and the times they got Kyungsoo to join their games. His departure even made him miss some weirder things —like the flowers on his head, that would gradually change colors depending on the older's mood. 

(Later, he realized that, _maybe_ , Kyungsoo had been his first love.)

He didn’t expect the other to come back, but five years later he was here to stay. And here he still is, ten years after he first came to Vapolune.

Kyungsoo still is quiet, but now he has his own friends and he’s much more accepting of other people’s company than what he was years ago. He can't say that the two of them are friends, but they can't be considered strangers either. 

He’s not sure if this is how he wants their relationship to stay as. Even after having thought about this for years, he still doesn't have a definite answer. He knows he'd be happy to stay by the older's side as a friend, but he finds it uncomfortable the way his chest constricts when Kyungsoo smiles his heart-shaped smile to him, _only_ to him.

He leans against a tree and watches Kyungsoo working, his moves being firm but graceful. Just like his personality.

His thoughts are interrupted when he hears distant noises and decides to hurry. He focuses on the air around him and feels the water that surrounds him. The cease in rains has made the air and land dryer than ever before, affecting both the earth and the air magicians.

Without much thought he finds the magic in him and uses it to form a tiny rain, just over the flowerbed Kyungsoo is trying to enliven by molding the ground. The other male stops in his tracks and turns to look for the cause of the rain.

Jongin stays barely long enough for Kyungsoo to notice him, and for him to see the spark of gratefulness in the gardener’s big eyes. He leans back and lets the air around him take him into its tight embrace, teleporting away.

∞

He emerges from the air, a few meters before the training halls —not wanting to leave scars in the air near any exits— and he greets some of the people he’s acquainted with, but mostly ignores the mass of people and walks in. He’s a few minutes early, but being the leader of the entire performance division for the Royal Family, he’s sure that there’s plenty of people who’ll want to talk to him regarding this and that.

The main training hall is where the meeting is held and the seatings have been arranged in a huge square, everybody facing each other and leaving the middle empty. The meeting is solely held due to the upcoming wedding of the Crown Prince of Vapolune and his bride, Joohyun —to fulfill the prophecy and  end the drought. 

Everything has to bigger _and_ better than anything ever seen.

There’s going to be events leading up to the ceremony and the ceremony itself has been planned to take hours. Not even mentioning the after-parties, which have been organized to last _at least_ for a week after the ceremony. It’s actually insane. 

And Jongin? He’s supposed to fill those weeks with performances of every sort imaginable from dancing to tree planting, and every single one of those performances is expected to surpass the one before it.

The meeting goes on and on, for hours on end, going through the dates and times of everything, followed by the performances themselves —gone through step by step. The meeting is expected to last for three days, leaving them with two weeks before the first part of the celebrations starts.

They eventually wrap it up for the day, and most of the people are tired enough to leave their questions for tomorrow. Jongin stays back, knowing he has to practice his own piece that he’s supposed to perform in the ceremony. It’s safe to say that it is the most important thing he has ever done. 

He changes his location to a studio that has been left unused after the new training halls were built. He’s pretty sure nobody has used it in the past ten years by the looks of it. The mirrors are blurry and the floor has seen some better days. He doesn’t even dare to think what kinds of creatures lurk in the corners.

He has to practice here because the routine he’s doing includes teleporting and it leaves the air scarred — making it impossible to teleport right on the scar, and hard enough right next to one— and he can’t afford to damage the air of any important place.

The dance is incredibly hard, intervened with magic, making it extremely tough. Heck, there's even a move that he can’t even try yet because it requires the presence of Skeliail, which can be only achieved during special events —and practices aren't sadly considered as 'special events'.

He’ll just have to trust her and do that part of the choreography during the real show blindly, not knowing what’s going to happen. He compensates the unsureness by learning the rest of the choreography to the point it becomes a part of him.

He’s doing what feels like the hundredth round when he feels a stinging pain in his left foot. The pain is not unbearable, so he continues until the end of the song.

He stops the music and hops to sit against one of the walls. After a light inspection, he concludes that he has a splinter in his foot from the floor. He should’ve expected this; he dances barefooted and the old wooden floor is not a proper dance platform.

The ‘injury’ is not that serious, so he’s glad that he didn’t stop half-way. He gets the splinter out, quite easily, deciding to show the tiny wound to Seulgi —being of the blood of Firmas, she can heal something so small, even if her magic is not focused on healing.

The door to the dance studio opens, letting a stream of moonlight in with Kyungsoo in tow, making him realize how late it actually is. 

Kyungsoo looks around for a moment, taking in the details of the old dance studio. As he spots Jongin, he frowns and looks like he's going is about to ask what’s wrong. He doesn't get to do that because Jongin interrupts him even before he can start.

“I got a splinter in my foot —although I got it out already—, no need to worry.”

“I- This floor isn’t good for dancing barefooted”, Kyungsoo points out the obvious, still frowning and the dancer just shrugs. 

The earth magician takes a second look around and continues, “I think I can still help you, even if I haven’t tried this... ever before, but I can try, I guess.”

Jongin doesn’t dare to interrupt and lets Kyungsoo do his thing. The smaller is known for his helpful attitude and he gets borderline offended if his help is refused. It’s admirable how big of a heart he has (in his small body) and Jongin swoons every time he sees that part of his personality come out. Just like now.

The earth magician gets on his knees and presses his palms onto the floor, on the opposite end of the room from Jongin. He starts humming and eventually quietly singing, head resting on the floor between his hands. The white flowers on his head move gently to the rhythm, tinting slightly green on the edges —like they usually do when he's working with his magic. The whole ordeal feels almost sacred and Jongin wills himself to think anything but how cute and precious Kyungsoo is.

At first, it’s not noticeable, but eventually the floor surrounding Kyungsoo starts to look more alive with all the dents filled, the original color and shine returned. The new, healthy wood replaces the old at a fastening pace, spreading from where the gardener is towards Jongin, who stands up and moves out of the way of the recovering wood.

Jongin checks the restored floor in awe, before a soft chuckle breaks his staring. He turns to Kyungsoo, whom he catches looking back at him, before turning to the result. 

“This is incredible Kyungsoo”, Jongin sincerely thinks so, “Thank you.”

“My magic doesn’t exactly include wood, but I’m an earth magician still. I take pride in my skills”, he laughs lightly, “Isn’t this kind of our thing? This ‘let’s do favors to each other and not say anything about it’?”

Jongin can feel warmth spreading in his chest, caused by the older’s words. It is their thing. And Kyungsoo seems to value it too.

“I guess it is.” 

They stay quiet for a while after that, standing next to each other, arms almost touching. The silence is not awkward, but it’s not exactly comfortable either. The fact that Jongin's heart is probably beating loud enough for Kyungsoo to hear it, makes Jongin kind of tense —affecting the mood.

∞

“Do you think this is a joke?” Jongin is literally unable to comprehend the situation, “I just- Don’t you understand how serious this is?”

This can’t be happening. He should be livid, but he isn’t, because the scenario of the Crown Prince being not capable of doing his part of the ceremony, certainly, does _not_ feel real. 

“But isn’t the main point of the ceremony that I get married, not my performance? Why are you reacting like this?” Junmyeon points out, “The prophecy only says ‘ _when the blood of Skeliail is bound to the truest of their love_ ’ — meaning I have to get married to my true love.”

Junmyeon has a point, as the Crown Prince, he _is_ the one that the prophecies refer as ' _the blood of Skeliail_ ' —although almost everyone in Vapolune are of Skeliail's blood in the end. And he is marrying Joohyun, whom he at least likes, be it true love or not. 

“Yes, you are correct,” he admits, ”but as the Prince, you are expected to manifest all the five powers of Skeliail at your wedding. It’s a tradition.”

Junmyeon doesn’t respond to that, so Jongin continues, “I _guess_ , we can leave the teleportation out. You can do the rest, right?”

“Yep! Invisibility is quite difficult, but I think I can manage”, Junmyeon smiles brightly, “I knew I could trust you!”

“It’s not a problem”, he brushes the compliment off, “I can’t even imagine the pressure you’re on right now.”

“Yeah, luckily this will end soon. Only a week left”, he smiles tiredly and looks back up to Jongin from where he’s laying on the floor, “Never get married, I tell you.”

“Well, it’s not like I have someone to get married with”, Jongin chuckles, “No need to worry.”

“Hey, I know that look. You have someone you like, don’t you?” Junmyeon’s interest is piqued and he stands up, “Don’t try and lie. I know when you’re lying.”

“Yeah, maybe there’s someone”, at Junmyeon’s curios face he sighs, “Don’t get too excited. He’s not interested.”

“How do you know that? Have you asked?”

“I just... know.”

“Oh, is he into girls?” Junmyeon looks sympathetic. 

Thanks to the three Supreme Powers’ unclear genders —Skeliail being female, but Firmas and Eserith being something in between—, there’s not many who have a preference, but there are exceptions too.

“Not that I know. He just isn’t interested in, _well_ , me.”

“Don’t lose your courage. You know how Eserith and Firmas were before they got together. Firmas was absolutely smitten, but Eserith seemed disinterested, so Firmas gave up, not knowing that Eserith was just waiting for Firmas to make a move”, Junmyeon reminds him, “If the Supreme Powers were like this and are now happily together for the millionth year, why can’t your story be similar?”

Jongin thinks his words over a couple of times and finally sighs, giving in, “Why are you so good at persuading? Maybe I will talk to him more.”

“That’s my boy!”, Junmyeon hugs him and goes to fetch his stuff, “Get married soon, so we’ll both be living the husband life together.”

“Didn’t you just tell me not to get married?” Jongin laughs, once again thanking the Supreme Powers that he has Junmyeon. They’re the same age, so they have grown up together, never minding the status difference.

“I changed my mind”, Junmyeon turns to the door, “I have Prince matters to attend, but thanks again for letting me off of the teleporting.”

Jongin waves him off, sighing and leaning his back against the wall of the performance hall. Of course he would do that for his brother.

He too, grabs his bag and walks out. 

Sometimes he wonders, what would have happened or what would happen if he revealed himself to be part of the royal family. The controversy of it all. The son of the King and the Queen who went missing almost 25 years ago.

He usually comes to the conclusion, that he would be called mad and laughed right out of the castle —one of the reasons why he doesn't bother.

He was found as a baby, inside the castle, with a note telling his name and stating that he belonged there, sealed with the magic of Skeliail. The workers pitied him and ended up raising him like he was their own, befriending all the other children, including Seulgi and Junmyeon.

If anybody had doubts, if the castle was his rightful place, his magic —even when he was small— proved those doubts wrong. The fact that teleporting was his nature was almost a miracle, it being one of the hardest powers to master. He ended up learning wind and water control before he learned to read and his origins started to be questioned —some people never mastered magic and had to depend on magic potions.

He wasn’t bothered by the questions regarding his family; for him, his family was all the people in the castle, from the chefs to the maids and butlers. They still are his family —they were the ones who raised him.

That stayed the same even after he reconnected with his mother. The first, and the only time they met in person was something like a fever dream for him, for a few years. 

Mostly because he  _ was, _in fact, having a fever when she teleported to him, during the night he was turning six. They didn’t need words, dream or not —Jongin knew who she was even without explanation. 

He can remember only bits and pieces what happened that night. The most vivid memory he has, is them both crying, hugging, and her repeated sobs of how she missed him and how sorry she was.

For whatever reason, he also particularly remembers these words from her, “Mom knows you are close with Seulgi and Junmyeon —I have been keeping a track on you—, but mom has to ask you to not tell them about her. You have to wait until you’re a big boy to know why, but mom will talk to you again, even if she takes a lot of time. You can make mom even prouder than she already is, right?”

He has always tried to make her proud after that.

He can’t deny that there were moments when he was upset at her, for leaving him, and making him keep her a secret, but he nonetheless loved her and trusted her to not break her promise.

Jongin drops the bag on the floor and falls to the bed. He eyes the bright blue flower on his windowsill and feels comforted just by its presence.

The flower came with the first letter he ever received from his mom, a few years after she visited him. She had enchanted it, so it would stay alive for years, so he would remember her when looking at it.

The letter was like a reward to him, for trying his best. She told him how proud she was of him and the boy he had grown to be. She mentioned the promise she made, of him getting to know everything, by asking him to wait some more. 

The rest of the letter was like any other from a mother to a son. She congratulated him for doing well in his dance practices and at school, but scolded him for not listening to the adults —focusing only on playing with Junmyeon or annoying Seulgi. She reminded him to eat and to study. 

That continued for years and sometimes he even forgot that she wasn’t physically present. The letters decreased the older he got, but it didn’t bother him. He didn’t want his mother constantly nagging at him —not mentioning how old-school letters are. 

(He doesn’t admit it, but he treasures the letters greatly. The fact that they are in the paper form, allows him to fiddle with them when he’s feeling down and they are a physical proof of her, if he ever doubts her. They are the proof that she has always been watching him. Just like she said.)

When he was thirteen, she opened up on some of the motives why she made the decisions she did. She told him a story, of a woman who fell in love, only to know that she wasn’t loved back. 

The woman was expecting the child of her love, but she knew she couldn’t handle the heartbreak and the pity that would follow if people got to know. She chose to leave her castle, her kingdom, as she thought it was for the best. 

As the child in her was growing, she realized that the child belonged to the castle. It was where he was meant to be, not with her running away from the past. Eventually she made the hard decision to part from his son, just so he could live well.

At the age of thirteen, Jongin didn’t understand why she had to be so cryptic, she was dramatic enough even without the story. Only later, he came to think that maybe she is still hurting and admitting that the story was what happened to her, would be too painful.

She always told him to be kind and understanding. She wanted him to be smart enough to realize who were innocent, and to know if someone had just been taught wrongly. She wanted him to know that the fault rarely lied in the people themselves. Jongin had questioned why she was so keen on her values, but it all made sense after he turned fifteen.

It was on accident, when he got to know who _exactly_ his mom was.

The story of the previous queen of Vapolune wasn’t unfamiliar to him. Even if nobody talked about her in public, it didn’t mean that she had been forgotten. Her name could be heard through whispered conversations, forwarding her story.

The queen was breathtakingly beautiful and charmed everyone with her kind personality, but the only person she ever looked at, was the king. Even he couldn’t resist her and she ended up becoming the queen of Vapelune in no time. They reigned together for a few years and the whole kingdom was awaiting for their firstborn to be announced. But that never happened.

Without any warning, it was announced instead that the queen would never appear again by the king’s side. After that, there was no words from and of her. She disappeared without any clues left behind.

She became a taboo and most of the people just wanted to pretend she didn’t exist, following the lead of their King, who soon remarried and got his awaited heir. It is believed that everything ever mentioning her, had then been collected and burned.

One of Jongin’s school mates, Lucas, who was known for his insider info regarding the ways of the royal, told the precise story of the queen to him.

It was said that the king wasn’t as enchanted by her than what he pretended to be. He had affairs with other women and at some point the queen got to know. She was heartbroken, but her love for him made her stay. It wasn’t until she got to know that one of the mistresses was pregnant, having the king’s baby —Junmyeon— when she decided that enough was enough and left.

She caused a terrible mess in the castle, flooding water and flying furnitures, before just teleporting away. No trace of her left behind. It was no surprise that the king was shocked and furious —he knew how much the people liked her— deciding that what she deserved was being forgotten. He ordered everything that included her, destroyed and vanished.

At the back of Jongin’s mind, he knew the story sounded familiar but it wasn’t until Lucas showed him the wedding picture of the king and the previous queen, that he connected the dots. It had his mother and the king in it.

∞

Jongin spots Kyungsoo’s flower crown meters away where he’s standing near the wall. He seems agitated, judging from the rhythm he’s tapping his fingers against the glass he's holding.

He doesn’t notice Jongin until the taller man is right in front of him. Without saying a word Jongin presses his fingers against the glass.

“Uh, thanks?” Kyungsoo’s not sure how he is supposed to react to Jongin spontaneously adding ice cubes into his drink.

“It’s hot, and you’re going to break the glass if you don’t slow down”, Jongin moves to stand next to him, “You seem restless. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, it’s just the ceremony”, he gestures the people around them, “We have done so much to get to this point, but now it's just... happening.”

“I know what you mean. Doesn’t help that the stakes are es pecially high today.”

“I just have an uneasy feeling about this”, Kyungsoo admits.

Jongin nods, agreeing. The atmosphere here isn’t of happiness, of excitement like one would expect —the Crown Prince is getting married and the prophecy is reaching its end.

People seem annoyed and frustrated, eager for the whole thing to be over.

“At least the food is good”, Jongin shrugs, “I can’t wait to eat the strawberries. They looked _so_ good.”

“I love strawberries. Do you want one?”

“What? Yes, like I said-“ Jongin stops when he sees Kyungsoo leaning forward and taking one of the vines on the wall into his hand and opening it, revealing a ripe strawberry.

He takes it but gapes at Kyungsoo who just laughs at his dumbfounded expression.

“I- What? How?” 

“It’s magic”, is the only answer Kyungsoo gives, smiling wide, eyes creasing. 

Jongin can feel his chest contrasting and he knows he’s free falling in love with Kyungsoo.

“Yeah, it is”, he whispers.

He almost doesn’t want eat the strawberry, but he's sure that putting it into his pocket isn't appropriate —so after all, he just ends up eating it.

They talk some more, until Kyungsoo spots the husband-to-be and stops.

“Hey Jongin, you’re close with the Crown Prince, right?”

“Yeah, I’d say so”, he doesn’t know where this is going but he doesn’t feel good about it.

“Do you know what’s his favorite drink?”

“Iced americano,” he replies immediately, “but why-?”

“Thanks Jongin! I owe you a favor!” Kyungsoo leaves before Jongin can finish, leaving him with mixed feelings.

He doesn’t want to stalk Kyungsoo and Junmyeon and overthink everything, so he just shakes his head and leaves to find somebody who needs _him_.

∞

The ceremony has lasted for over two hours already and even the main pair of the day are seeming to get impatient. It's now time for his dance, the last thing before the exchange of vows. He’s feeling the pressure, _oh yes_.

The dance is to call Skeliail to join them during the final part, and if he screws up — _that’s not good_.

He’s confident that he’ll reach her and get her lured into joining him in his dance. He just hopes that the audience would get even some energy from his dance, so they would at least be awake during the most important part of the ceremony.

They are in her temple, on top of a hill located behind the castle. It’s a open space without a roof and the stars are lighting the insides. He gets to his starting position in the middle of the room and waits.

The first beats of the music play and he immerses himself in the choreography. They are the same steps he has done for the past month, again and again, but today something feels different. He feels the air being an actual part of him and the connection between him and everything else seems so much more  present.

He moves to the familiar beat, letting the wind carry his aerials, like gravity isn’t a thing. He controls the water prepared for him, making it listen to his command, following his movements. He loses himself to the rhythm —to the magic surrounding him. At the back of his mind he can feel her, how she’s getting closer to him second by second.

He twists and turns, lets his body flow to the music. Falling into the air and emerging from somewhere else, enchanting the audience and luring Skeliail to the temple, —to him. He spins lap after lap in a pirouette right before reaching the final part of the choreography, the peak. He jumps, landing on air, continuing the movement again and again, raising above the audience. Flying, he gives his all to the movements, and lets Skeliail join him.

He can feel the moment she possesses him. He turns into air himself, he senses everything around him; the people, the buildings, the feelings, the past, the present and the future. He feels overwhelmed, but he focuses on moving with her, in sync, to the beat of the music. 

They touch the floor, making their final pose, surrounded by a small vortex. She leaves him, but he feels her presence still around him. He’s dead tired and he can’t feel anything else than the air wrapping him into its sweet embrace, taking him away.

∞

“It’s because of my dance, isn’t it?” Junmyeon paces around the back room.

“I really think that’s not the problem here”, Jongin sighs and runs his hand through his brown hair.

“I think it’s the dance. It can’t be anything else”, Junmyeon stops before sitting onto one of the sofas.

“For the love of Skeliail, it’s not the dance!”

“Why?” Junmyeon just stares at him, “Everything else went well.”

“Because you danced  after the vows. The rain was supposed to come ‘ _when the blood of Skeliail is bound to the truest of their love_ ’,  meaning the actual act of marrying.”

“But why didn’t this work? What are we going to say to the people who are waiting for the rain?”

“Something wasn’t right. Either with you or the one you married”, Jongin points out, “and you are the prince here, so it’s your job to tell whatever to the people, not mine. I’m just here to entertain.”

Junmyeon lets out a wail and Jongin chuckles.

“Now get up and go save your bride. You left her alone, in the middle of this mess.”

He forcibly lifts Junmyeon up and pushes him towards the door.

“Whatever was Skeliail displeased with, I don’t think you being a bad husband makes it any better.”

“Okay, I got it. I’m going”, Junmyeon relents and frees himself of the taller’s grasp.

Jongin watches him go and takes Junmyeon’s seat on the sofa. 

Something wasn't right and he has a terrible gut feeling, that he’s part of the reason why. It’s _only_ a 50% chance that he’s the one that was supposed to get married to someone he loves.

Maybe the percentage is even higher —he finally realizes the one thing that he should’ve realized ages ago. The one being next in line to the throne is supposed to be able to master all the five parts of Skeliail’s magic; teleportation, invisibility, flight, water transformation and air control.

Junmyeon can’t teleport, and he’s still the Crown Prince. Just like Jongin, who can do all of those —flying with difficulty, but it’s achievable— except invisibility. But the catch is: he can’t turn invisible by his own will, but he was never found during hide-and-seek when he was a child, even if someone walked right past him.

He groans and rests his head against the backrest of the sofa. Everything became just a hundred times more difficult.

He’s supposed to find his true love, woo him and get married before the drought causes irreversible damage to the three kingdoms. Great. 

He sighs and counts to three before getting up. He needs to find Kyungsoo.

∞ ∞ ∞

_ Heart belonging to a blood of Skeliail is to be intervened with a descendant of the greatest, the Ruler of the Earth, the wise and graceful Eserith. They are to be responsible for the liberation of her Supreme Power, Skeliail’s perilous act of discipline, binding the three kingdoms. The blood of Eserith harboring the gift of bloom, distinguished by a flower crown, should disregard rationality and accept the nature to take its course without interruption. Let the Supreme Powers to be united along them, shall that not happen, begins the great gift of magic dwindle as the command has not been followed to the likings of the greatest, the Ruler of the Earth, the strict and selfish Eserith. _

##  II

“What’s up?”

“I’m hot”, is Kyungsoo’s curt reply.

Jongin went to see Kyungsoo —as the other has been too busy trying to keep the Royal Gardens alive, to really go anywhere else.

“Yes, very”, he’s not usually this forward with his advances, but the opportunity is just too good not to take.

“I meant that I’m feeling hot”, Kyungsoo pauses for a second and Jongin only lifts his eyebrow, “Not like that! I- the temperature is high.”

It’s not like Jongin can keep his smile from spreading at flustered Kyungsoo. He really tries. 

“Don’t look at me like that”, he turns back to the plants, “Don’t you have something better to do?”

“Better? Nothing really comes to mind”, Jongin shrugs and walks closer to the bush to take a look, “I’ll have to go to distribute water at some point, but that’s not better so...”

The ground looks so dry that the bush is probably driving only on Kyungsoo’s magic. 

“I’d water these plants, but the regulations forbid that”, he says, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

The drought has reached the point, where the only way people still get _some_ water into their houses is solely thanks to the air magicians. All extra usage of water —watering plants for example— is prohibited. 

“I think I can manage”, Kyungsoo responds, “On a second thought —could you get me water?”

That Jongin can do.

“I don’t exactly carry a glass around, but-“ he cups his hands together and lets them be filled with water, “-here. You’ll have to settle for this.”

“Oh”, is the only answer Kyungsoo gives, but after looking back at Jongin’s blushing face, he ends up drinking the water.

During that, Jongin curses himself silently, asking why does he have to be so awkward. Kyungsoo is too nice, accepting his stupid ideas.

“Thanks Jongin”, Kyungsoo wipes his mouth, “I needed that.”

“It’s nothing”, is the only sensible answer Jongin can come up with, and still, it's not very good answer.

“Have you seen the prince today? I got to talk to him”, Kyungsoo asks as he gets up and dusts his pants.

“Why?” Jongin catches himself before he asks more. It’s none of his business why Kyungsoo wants to talk to Junmyeon, “I mean, I heard he was in the library like an hour ago?”

“Thanks again, Jongin”, Kyungsoo starts his way to the exit of the garden, “I owe you, times two now!”

Jongin pretends he doesn’t feel the stab of jealousy.

∞

Okay, Jongin is jealous. 

He never wanted to be jealous, because in the first place he didn’t even mean to act on his feelings. But then the prophecy came and Jongin had to admit his feelings, try to get closer to his crush and now watch Kyungsoo talk animatedly with Junmyeon. The Crown Prince _and_ his brother.

Not exactly what he had in mind for him and the gardener, but what did he expect?

The hand that Kyungsoo lays on the prince’s arm is definitely too much. He doesn’t do that with Jongin —he would remember if that would’ve happened. 

Jongin groans and turns around. It makes no sense for him to torture himself like this. And the worst part is the fact that he has no rights to be like this. He never even imagined that he could be this jealous and possessive. Kyungsoo is not his, and is free to do anything he likes with anyone he wants.

He tries to resist, but he has to peek once more before leaving. They are still there and they are- talking about him? Both their eyes are turned on him and they’re saying something. He needs to go.

He has made a rule with himself to not teleport when inside the castle and he still respects it —even in a hurry. He flees out of the library as fast as he can without looking like he’s panicking. 

To his disappointment he hears another pair of feet behind him and he knows he can’t run away anymore. He makes it to round the corner to the corridor before he gets stopped by a hand on his arm.

“Jongin?” His excitement drops to the floor when it’s not the older’s voice that says his name,but Junmyeon’s.

He breathes in deeply, to wipe his face of excess emotions and turns around with a smile, “Yeah?”

Kyungsoo’s not with him anymore and Jongin’s not sure if he’s happy or not. 

“I feel like we haven’t talked in ages”, the prince starts and drags Jongin with him, “It’s been like, what? A week?”

“The drought has kept most of the people busy”, he frees his arm from the firm grip and walks along on his own, “Has anything special happened?”

Junmyeon sighs, “You remember the girl I told you about last time? The one dad thinks could be the one?”

“Yeah, what about her?” Jongin steps into the study Junmyeon brought them.

“In short, I married and divorced her, both this week.”

“Ooh, that’s _harsh_. What are you gonna do now? Or are you going to do anything?”

“I don’t really know”, he sits on the seat behind the dark wooden desk and leans back, “I’m supposed to keep looking, but I’m not sure if this is going to ever work. And I really feel bad for Joohyun. She got tangled in this mess because of me and I know she genuinely likes me —not that I like her any less than before.”

“I know that this may not be wise to say,” Jongin hesitates, “but if anybody, I thought that Joohyun would’ve been the one for you.”

It’s not like he’s lying, but if Junmyeon was officially off-the-limits for a certain flower-head, Jongin would feel ten times more confident in his abilities to fulfill the prophecy.

∞

“What do I do?” Jongin whines and turns to look at Seulgi, who’s just standing by the doorway —judging him, “Tell me, please.”

“I- what are you doing in my room, Jongin?” 

She gets over her surprise and closes the door behind her. Sometimes she swears Jongin is just like the three-year olds in the kindergarten. 

“I don’t know what should I do and I know you like some drama”, the taller invites her to lie next to him.

She rolls her eyes but eventually climbs to the bed, crawling to his side.

“Okay. Tell me everything. What happened, when and with who. I want _details_ ”, the way she pronounces details is almost threatening, but Jongin doesn’t have the time to be scared.

“So... Kyungsoo”, Jongin starts slowly, deciding carefully what to say.

“You like him, right?”

“What? How did you know? I was only getting to that!”

Seulgi is, quite frankly, disappointed but not surprised, “I- I’m not sure how am I supposed to answer to that. I’m not stupid?” 

Has Jongin really been that obvious around Kyungsoo? He didn’t even realize his own feelings until pretty late, so when did Seulgi find out? 

“Jongin, I have known you since forever. How can I not notice when you have a crush? You’re the sweetest and the kindest person I know and you never treat people differently. Heck- you treat me and the Crown Prince the same way. But Kyungsoo gets a special amount of attention from you, even more than me and the Prince.”

Seulgi wraps her arms around Jongin and hugs him closely. 

“I’m sorry. I never wanted, and still don’t want to prioritize him over you”, Jongin mumbles and returns the hug, “I don’t want you to feel left-out.”

“NO, no, that’s not what I meant!” She hurries to explain herself, “I love seeing you happy and excited, and if that means I get to see your annoying face a little less —I’m not hurt.”

“That was so sweet!” Jongin ruffles her hair, “You never say things like that.”

“I know”, she answers meekly, letting her hair be how it is and stays quiet about it, which she never normally does, “You know, Jongin, that I really love- Oh, wait.”

She pauses mid-sentence and closes her eyes.

Jongin tries to stay as still as he can, not wanting to disturb her as she’s getting a telepathic message. It doesn’t take long when she opens her eyes again.

“What was it?”

“It was a message to the fire magicians, telling us not to light fires because it’s so dry out there”, she sighs, thinking about the drought, “Also a new part was received to one of the Firmas’ prophecies. Something along the lines of ‘ _thru trials he should grasp what is truly important, determinedly going forward_ ’ —Not really helpful as the prophecy is not whole yet.”

“Well, the last prophecy we got, was the one with the drought so...”, he makes his point without continuing, “Going back to our previous topic —what were you exactly saying? Could it have been I lov-“

“No it wasn’t”, Seulgi pushes herself up on the bed, the mood ruined, “You should get your ears checked, I bet Kyungsoo doesn’t like boys who hear whatever they want to hear.”

“Hey- that was low”, Jongin protests and screeches when the long-haired girl yanks his leg, “Stop that! I’m going, no need to be so rough.”

“Then hurry”, she opens the door for him and pushes him towards it, “Or I’m making you want to hurry.”

Jongin lifts his hands up in the air, surrendering, “I bet Yeri doesn’t like girls who are so violent”, earning a shove on the back.

“You-“, he doesn’t hear the end of her rant as he flees the scene, getting away from her.

Only when he reaches his own room, after two floors of stairs, he remembers the original reason why he went to her room. 

He was supposed to ask her for some advice with his situation with Kyungsoo, but he deems he can do it later, or simply, not ask her help.

∞

“Hey, Kyungsoo. I was thinking —would you eat with me?” 

Jongin groans. This isn’t going to work. He sounds stupid and he feels stupid. He probably even looks stupid. Maybe he should cancel the idea of trying to go on a picnic with Kyungsoo.

He then looks at the full basket on his bed and grabs it without a second thought. He’s going on a picnic, was it with Kyungsoo or not. It’s not like he looses anything if he tries. 

A bigger part of him wants to do this so he can spend more time with the gardener, but the part of him that is refusing to let go of this idea, is the same part that wants to show Seulgi that he can, and will, organize something nice and fun to do with Kyungsoo. That he can do this on his own.

He goes through his plan once more as he searches for Kyungsoo. Everything is casual and this is not explicitly for Kyungsoo. It’s okay if he refuses but he just wanted to have some company and Kyungsoo came into his mind.

He notices the familiar form of Kyungsoo, sitting on one of the benches in the Royal Garden. He takes a deep breath before approaching him.

It’s Kyungsoo who talks first, “Hey Jongin!” He takes a look at the basket the taller is holding, “Going for a picnic?”

“Yeah”, he pauses as if he’s thinking, “Do you want to come with me?” 

Nice and smooth, Jongin.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“Why not?”, Jongin pretends to muse the thought, “I could use some company.”

“Then, I’m in”, Kyungsoo stands up and brushes the nonexistent dirt from his pants.

Jongin didn't expect it to be this easy.

They walk in silence to the hill where the temple of Skeliail is located. In Jongin’s humble opinion, the view is the prettiest from up there, so why not show it to Kyungsoo? Jongin prepared everything from the foods to the picnic blanket —making sure that _nothing_ can go wrong. 

In no time they are set up and Jongin is glad that he got Kyungsoo to come with him. It would’ve been lonely and the food is too much for one —and Kyungsoo notices it.

“There’s so much to eat”, he looks through the stuff, “and you brought two of everything from glasses to plates and spoons.”

Somehow the sky starts to interest Jongin deeply. He didn’t think this through. 

“Did you plan this?”

“Yeah”, Jongin wants to pretend to not understand the real meaning.

“I mean if you planned to ask me to come with you?”

Kyungsoo’s eyes look so pretty in the sunlight, glittering chestnut orbs directed at him, curious and awaiting. He looks like he’s glowing, and the flowers on his head are tinted orange, reaching to the sky. Kyungsoo’s like the embodiment of flowers, the fragile beauty of them and their strength to grow through wind and rain.

How could he lie to him? 

“I brought you strawberries”, he offers instead.

“You remembered?”

“Of course I did”, he sighs, half to himself, half to Kyungsoo, “Dig in.”

He knows this will be one of the moments in his life he’s going to savor forever. He can’t deny his attraction —no, love— for Kyungsoo anymore. It’s Kyungsoo or it’s nobody. He’s the true love Jongin will have to marry to save the kingdoms, but if Kyungsoo opposes, Jongin is fine with that.

It’s so selfish that it almost disgusts him. He wants Kyungsoo happy more than anything else in the world. If the bright and heart-shaped smile stays on Kyungsoo’s lips only, when they aren’t together, then Jongin is sure that Skeliail will understand his reasoning. She will feel how sincere his love is and hopefully relieve them of the drought. He has to trust her.

Jongin soaks himself with the presence of the gardener, the air around them. How easy everything feels and how open he can be with the older next to him. He gathers those feelings and puts them in a box, locking it and storing it into the depths of his memory. He never wants to lose the feeling he has.

Kyungsoo’s full laughter fades as he falls onto his back, observing the sky. He shades his eyes from the sun before turning to Jongin. His expression turns serious but soft.

“Jongin?” 

He loves the way his name sounds when Kyungsoo says it. He hums.

“Can I ask you something? Something personal?”

He keeps quiet for a moment before answering. There’s not much he’s not willing to tell to Kyungsoo.

“What is it?”

“Your parents”, the older swallows, “I have never seen them around.”

Even if it’s not a question, he understands.

Jongin lies on his side, and reads Kyungsoo’s face. There’s no malice, just curiosity and concern. 

“I was raised here, by everyone”, he wonders what he should tell, “Nobody else knows, but I know who my parents are. My mom and I, we’ve talked.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t probe and doesn’t ask why he’s telling him this. The silence is not awkward, it’s almost intimate. The sky has darkened and they lie on the ground, watching each other. 

“My mother once belonged to the castle. She left with me even before I was born”, Jongin closes his eyes. He hasn’t spoken a word of his mother to anyone, ever, “She made the decision to bring me back to where I belong, to here.”

He loves his mom so much, that sometimes even he can't understand why that is. He has met her only once and some of the things she has told him, have holes in them, and aren't logically explainable —like how she knows what's happening with him. She's a woman extraordinary, with her own secrets, being a secret, but she's his mom nonetheless. 

And somehow, sharing her story to Kyungsoo, doesn't feel wrong.

“Without your mother’s decision, we may not have met”, Kyungsoo thinks out loud, “I have to thank her.”

Jongin’s heart beats a little louder at his words. Maybe he has hope. Maybe Kyungsoo’s and his feelings aren’t that far apart.

“I’m glad I met you Jongin”, Kyungsoo whispers, “I hope you know that.”

Maybe there’s a chance that he’ll fill the prophecy. With Kyungsoo.

“I’m glad that I met you too.”

There’s something between them, that almost feels magical. They both are so bare with their emotions, their eyes exposing everything they’re feeling. 

It’s something like a mutual understanding of what they’re, that is making harder and harder for Jongin to swallow back the words.

‘ _I love you_.’

Kyungsoo’s eyes wander behind Jongin and his eyes trail the architecture of the temple. The look in his eyes turn melancholic. 

“I’m the one the Prince should’ve married.”

The time stops and Jongin feels his heart drop.

He can barely speak a light ‘What?’, from the ice that runs through his veins, freezing him and his heart.

“I’m sure that I’m the one he will have to marry to fill the prophecy.”

Jongin can’t —doesn’t want— to process the words. He sits up and busies himself with the food. He tries to hide his trembling hands and face from Kyungsoo as he doesn’t need to know the inner turmoil Jongin is going through. 

The wind picks up, as if tuned to Jongin’s feelings.

“Oh no, I forgot to take care of the rest of the plants because I came here”, Kyungsoo stands up abruptly, “I’m so, _so_ , sorry Jongin, but I have to go. I have to get it done before it becomes completely dark!”

“Yeah, that’s okay”, Jongin forces his voice not to tremble, “You go do that, I’ll take care of these.”

Only after Kyungsoo is long gone, allows Jongin himself to break down. It’s not okay. Nothing is okay. 

He shakes and sobs, forgetting the mess around him. The world around him goes on, even if he doesn’t. He knew this is how it would end, no matter what. He doesn’t want to be hurting, but it hurts so badly. The cold evening air is such a contrast to the warmth he shared with Kyungsoo, that he hates it. 

He hates himself for hoping too much, for raising his own expectations. He hates Kyungsoo for leading him to hope. He hates Junmyeon, his brother for being the Prince and the one Kyungsoo wants. He hates his dad for thinking with his dick. He hates the prophecy and he hates his mom who brought him to the castle. He hates Skeliail for not warning him. 

But mostly, he hates his heart that is singing Kyungsoo’s name even after being shattered and walked over. 

He thought he ran out of tears and energy to cry after a while, becoming numb to everything around him, but when Seulgi’s familiar arms gather him in a bone-crushing embrace, it all starts again. 

They stay like that for a while, Jongin being sheltered from the cruel world in the arms of Seulgi. He’s grateful, but they aren’t the arms he would want around him the most.

∞

“Jongin, now you’ll get up, or I make you get up”, Seulgi sighs, “We both agreed to this.”

She’s not wrong but he’d love to stay in the bed a little longer —even if he knows he can’t. 

He opens his eyes slowly and sits up. Seulgi sits next to him on the bed and combs his messy hair with her fingers.

“It has already been a week you have been cooped up in my room”, she’s careful with her words, but they have a tone of command in them too, “That was our plan and now it’s time for you to go back to your normal life.”

“Yeah, I know”, Jongin nods and chuckles, “but your bed is too comfy to get up.”

It’s safe to say that when Seulgi practically carries him out of her room, he doesn’t have much more choices than to get ready.

He was allowed to stay with her for one week, and during that week they talked about how he’s feeling and what is he going to do from now on. He cried out the tears he needed to cry during the first night, making him much more calm and composed for the rest of the time.

After talking his feelings clear with Seulgi and taking some time to think by himself, he realized that not everything was as bad as he made the things to be.

He came to the conclusion that Kyungsoo’s confession hit him so hard because from high hopes the drop is always bigger. That probably triggered some feelings in him that he never processed before, regarding his parents, Junmyeon and the position they put him in with or without meaning to. 

As much as he claimed to hate himself and Kyungsoo, he lost those feelings after crying his feelings out. He still very much loves the other and is willing to support him through whatever, even just as a friend. And he knows his feelings are something he can’t change, so why brother to be upset over them?

In conclusion, he was done being a emotional train wreck.

He saw Junmyeon a couple times during the week and the prince is still the same person he ever was before. There’s no way he can abandon 24 years of friendship over a guy —even if that guy is Kyungsoo.

That doesn’t mean it hurts any less when Junmyeon brings him up.

“Glad to see you too”, Junmyeon briefly hugs him, “I’m in a hurry now, but we have to talk sometime.”

“Sure. Whenever Your Highness has time”, Jongin teases, although he’s not in a much better position —still having to lead the performance team and take part in the water distribution.

“Ha ha. Not funny”, the prince shoves him playfully, “By the way, have you seen Kyungsoo? I got to talk to him about something.”

“No clue where he is”, he decided that he won’t help them, but he won’t object  much either, “Maybe the garden?”

He knows for sure that every Sunday lunch Kyungsoo spends at the library, reading. He could be at the garden, too, for some reason, so he’s not lying.

“Thanks, I got it”, Junmyeon pats his back, “Talk to you soon, right?”

Jongin watches him go and turns on his heels towards the corridor where the library is.

∞

“Fuck.”

The book he tries to levitate down to Kyungsoo’s awaiting hands falls from half-way, catching the unprepared gardener off guard.

The book thumps when it hits the floor and both of them flinch.

“This is weird”, Jongin speaks up, embarrassed, “I don’t know why it did that.”

He tries again with a book that’s much lower and right next to him. It gets carried by the air, but shakily. He needs to focus solely on the book’s safe landing so it doesn’t drop.

“It’s as if-“, he tries to think how he can describe the feeling, “as if my magic is more vulnerable, weaker.”

“I’ve heard that the magic is getting weaker, somehow”, Kyungsoo mentions, “But how are you feeling? Haven’t seen you around lately.”

The older is so nice that it physically makes Jongin want to melt into goo.

“Everything is okay —now”, he says, adding the last part as an afterthought.

The flowers on Kyungsoo’s head are bluish on the edges and they seem a little droopy.

“Can I touch your flowers?”

“What?” Kyungsoo looks confused by the change of topic, but understands after the taller points at his head, “Only if you make it fast.”

Jongin tenaciously takes steps closer, invading Kyungsoo’s personal space. He notes how the shorter’s head would perfectly fit the space between Jongin’s shoulder and neck if they were to hug.

“Jongin?” He asks when the younger boy doesn’t move, his round face gradually turns pinker by the close proximity.

Jongin breaks from his reverie, and reminds himself to breathe. Kyungsoo looking up at him like this, with his big curious eyes while blushing, is doing things to him.

The flower crown is now peachy instead of the blue and Jongin hesitates to touch it. The surface of the petals is silky and soft and he carefully rubs one between his fingers. He lets go immediately as Kyungsoo spasms.

“What’s wrong?” If Jongin now hurt Kyungsoo, he can’t with himself anymore.

The older notices the panic and rests his both hands on Jongin’s shoulders, “It’s okay, they just are very ticklish.”

“Really”, Jongin says with a teasing grin, ready for an attack.

“Don’t you dare to tickle them”, Kyungsoo’s stern face is adorable but Jongin listens, “I got teased enough when I was small.”

“Aren’t you still small?” 

He deserves the slap he gets on his chest, but their height difference tells otherwise.

“For reals, I couldn’t do the headstand because they were in the way.”

“It must have made you upset”, Jongin unconsciously pats the older’s head and realizes the position they’re in.

They are standing mere inches apart, his hands on Kyungsoo’s head and Kyungsoo’s one hand on his shoulder and the other on his chest. 

He panics and steps back, breaking the position. A moment longer and the other would’ve realized how hard Jongin’s heart was beating. 

“I just came by to say hi, and now that I’ve done that I’ll continue my trip”, he abruptly bids his goodbyes and leaves Kyungsoo to enjoy the library on his own.

∞

“You know Kyungsoo, right?” Junmyeon asks him, “I have seen you two hanging around.”

“Yes... I know him”, Jongin hesitantly answers, having a bad feeling where this conversation is going to go.

“Do you know if he’s seeing someone”, the prince pries.

“Never came up, so I don’t know. Sorry”, Jongin keeps his face straight.

If Kyungsoo wants to marry Junmyeon, he most likely isn’t seeing someone —but Jongin can be wrong too, so he isn’t lying.

Even if Jongin doesn’t want to know, he feels like he should still ask, “Are you interested in him, or...?”

“He’s kind and nice, but he’s kinda stiff around me”, Junmyeon ponders, “but that might be because of my position so I don’t know yet. I have to get to know him better.”

Jongin mumbles something that could be interpreted as an agreement, without looking Junmyeon in the eyes.

“How about you?” Junmyeon changes the topic, “How is it going with your man?”

Jongin traces the pattern of the sofa they’re sitting on, thinking. He really wants to look at his brother disbelievingly in the eyes and say, ‘Well, you took him so —not very well, I guess.’, but he has to hold his tongue.

“Not good”, he settles with that, “He likes someone else.”

Like usual, Junmyeon doesn’t know how to respond, so they just keep quiet.

Jongin feels the judging stares directed at him from the paintings all around the salon they’re sitting in. The silence stretches until it’s broken by footsteps coming from the corridor.

A breathless Kyungsoo appears in the door way, brightening the gloomy room with his presence. 

It’s Jongin who notices him first and waves, “Hi Jongin!”, Kyungsoo’s smile widens into a heart and Jongin feels his chest fill with warmth at the sight.

“And Junmyeon! I have something I got to talk with you, you got a minute?”

Jongin whips his head away from Kyungsoo and inhales sharply. The ease and the familiarity in the way Kyungsoo said Junmyeon’s name was a reality check. The smaller has always before talked about Junmyeon by only addressing him as the Prince.

He feels Junmyeon get up and he stubbornly doesn’t want to see the exchange between them. He observes the old room, but he soon feels the eyes from the paintings staring at him again. He reflexively whips his eyes to Kyungsoo and Junmyeon.

He may be strong physically, but he never is strong enough to look away from Kyungsoo. It’s like the older is a magnet, pulling Jongin towards him constantly, not even giving the taller a chance to get away.

As he observes the conversation from all the faces that Kyungsoo makes to the tiny details of his body language, he can’t help but frown. Not because he’s jealous, but because everything Kyungsoo does somehow feels... forced.

It’s the way Kyungsoo’s eyes flick towards everything but Junmyeon’s and the way his hands awkwardly hover over Junmyeon’s arms. When he laughs, it doesn’t reach his eyes and his nose doesn’t crinkle, and from time to time, his smile fades until he seems to notice it and smiles wider again.

The changes are almost not noticeable but with how intensively Jongin is looking at Kyungsoo, he’d notice everything. Junmyeon is buying Kyungsoo’s acting and Jongin can’t blame him. 

The conversation looks like it’s ending so Jongin quickly turns around, as if he never was staring at Kyungsoo.

“I got to go now, I got prince stuff to do”, he raises his voice and Jongin turns back to look at them, “And Kyungsoo, thanks for notifying me. I appreciate it.”

Junmyeon leaves with just that, and when he’s far enough, the smile drops off from Kyungsoo’s face. He groans loudly and buries his face into his hands. 

Jongin doesn’t say anything when Kyungsoo drags his feet to the couch and just falls on it. From closer Kyungsoo looks tired and paler than what it looked from far away.

“You look like you need a massage”, Jongin speaks up, “Come here.”

Kyungsoo turns to look at him, eyes big and surprised, “You almost read my mind.”

“I give some mean massages”, Jongin motions him to move, and without much resistance, Kyungsoo giggles and complies.

As Kyungsoo settles in front of him, the flowers catch his eyes. They look fragile and grayish, but he doesn’t mention them. He places his hands to Kyungsoo’s shoulders and the older man relaxes under his touch.

He proceeds to give Kyungsoo the best massage he has ever received. He starts softly, before digging more properly into the knots Kyungsoo has. He stores the way Kyungsoo feels under his fingertips to the deepest part of his memory, so he can remember it forever.

They stay silent, only Kyungsoo softly groaning when Jongin massages particularly tight spots.

“Are you sure, that you’re the one who has to marry Junmyeon?”

Jongin came to the conclusion that if Kyungsoo is absolutely sure of his choice, he’s going to let everything happen. But, if there’s even a tiny, tiny bit of uncertainty in Kyungsoo, Jongin will try and change his mind —from making him give up on Junmyeon, or revealing his true place in the Royal Family. Whatever it takes to get Kyungsoo to change his mind.

“Hundred percent sure”, Kyungsoo says it with a voice that leaves no space for arguments. 

Jongin knows that it’s not his fight anymore, but still he wants to know, “How? What makes you so sure?”

His voice is quiet and non incendiary. He wants to understand and Kyungsoo can hear it from his voice. He doesn’t say anything, and Jongin is not sure if he’s going to even get an answer.

“It’s my fate”, he finally says, “I have to do it for my Kingdom, Soidin, and because that’s what is expected from me.”

Kyungsoo’s words have a melancholic note to them and Jongin gets it. He understands the pressure and the obligation that must lie on Kyungsoo’s shoulders for whatever reason. He knows personally how heavy those expectations feel, so he won't intervene.

“Just remember, please,” Jongin starts with a whisper, “if you need to force yourself to laugh or remind yourself to keep your smile from fading, or if you need to pretend to yourself that you want the eye contacts and the physical touches, maybe you need to step back and think if it’s worth it. For yourself, sometimes being selfish is okay.”

Kyungsoo doesn't say anything to that and Jongin prays he didn't overstep his boundaries.

∞

“What are you doing here?”

Jongin wakes with a startle and the sight of Kyungsoo looking down at him greets him.

“I was practicing a choreography”, Jongin rubs the sleep from his eyes, “and I fell asleep while resting.”

Kyungsoo sits down next to him and gazes at the bright sky.

“What about you?” Jongin asks, “Why are you here?”

“I got frustrated because the plants weren’t listening to me”, he sighs, “Took a walk to clear my mind. Ended up here.”

“So your magic has been weakening too?”

Kyungsoo shrugs. 

“Me and Seulgi just talked about this”, Jongin mentions, “She can’t light fires easily anymore and I haven’t teleported in a while —I don’t want to get stuck.”

There’s a silence before Kyungsoo asks, “Are you and her-“, he’s uncomfortable elaborating, but when it seems that Jongin doesn’t get it, he inhales, irritated.

“I heard that you slept in her room for a week and now there’s speculations if you’re, you know-“, Kyungsoo is annoyed and embarrassed, and when Jongin bursts out laughing, he’s confused.

“I- every year this comes up, I- I can’t”, Jongin doesn’t know why this is so funny to him, but he just keeps laughing, “I can’t breathe.”

Eventually Kyungsoo chuckles along with him, not knowing what’s going on. After a while Jongin calms down enough to speak.

“That rumor comes up every year”, Jongin breathes, “Ow, my abs hurt.”

“So... it’s true, or?”

“No, never!” Jongin hurries to deny, “She’s like my sister. We think the rumors are funny.”

“Well, I’m sorry I didn’t know that”, Kyungsoo sneers, “And no need to flex with your abs, some of us just don’t build muscle well.”

“In the first place, if you would exercise, you would build muscles a lot better”, Jongin sprints away before Kyungsoo can whack him.

“You should’ve seen your face when you asked if I was dating Seulgi”, Jongin teases, “It was hilarious.”

Fueled by embarrassment, Kyungsoo stands up as well, “When I catch you Kim Jongin, I’m _so_ going to smack you!”

Jongin finds this Kyungsoo adorable —partly scary— but adorable, so he has to keep teasing, “Try me.”

Kyungsoo runs towards Jongin, but he’s one step ahead and moves aside, before starting to run away. He calls the winds to blow against Kyungsoo, slowing him down.

Kyungsoo realizes that the rules have been changed, so he stops on his tracks and crouches down, leaning his palms to the ground. Jongin notices it and stops to see what’s happening. He doesn’t get to rest for long as he feels something touch his ankle.

He screeches and sees vines emerging from the grass, reaching for him. He continues running, avoiding all the obstacles Kyungsoo tries to put on his way. Jongin realizes that Kyungsoo hasn’t moved from his spot since the beginning, so he turns towards him.

Sensing the upcoming danger Kyungsoo gets up and speeds further away from Jongin. He starts to sing the best he can through his ragged breathing, commanding the grass to grow, making running harder for the taller male.

Noticing the new problem, Jongin starts leaping over the grass. When Kyungsoo checks how near Jongin is, he bursts into laughter, nose crinkling. Jongin looks downright stupid.

The laughter is contagious and soon Jongin is cackling behind him, both of their speed slowing down. Kyungsoo knows he’ll lose —he is the less athletic of the two—, his stamina having been done after he started to sing, not even talking about laughing and running at the same time. 

He can hear Jongin get closer by the sounds of his laughter, but when it suddenly stops, Kyungsoo has to look back. Not seeing him, he looks around to see where the younger is, only to crash his nose against Jongin’s chest.

They fall back to the ground because of the impact Kyungsoo’s speed causes. Jongin instinctively wraps himself around Kyungsoo, so he doesn’t get hurt.

It’s Kyungsoo who continues laughing first and Jongin joins him. They don’t even try to control it. Eventually the laughter dies out, both of them too tired to continue.

“I caught you”, Jongin points out breathlessly, before Kyungsoo softly whacks his abs.

“But that wasn’t the point of the game.”

Jongin chuckles as he doesn’t have the energy to laugh anymore and rubs his innocent stomach. It makes Kyungsoo giggle and they stay the moment like that.

Carefully the older rolls to the ground from on top of Jongin, both of them calming down. They bask in the sunlight, enjoying the warmth.

“Did you feel it too?” Jongin asks, turning to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo seems to glow, like he always does in the sun. The flowers on his head are mix of yellow and peach, all of them lively and reaching to the sky.

“What?”

“The magic. I felt stronger than I have felt in weeks”, Jongin explains, “I even teleported.”

Kyungsoo looks like he’s thinking about something before closing his eyes. The grass around him starts to grow, pushing stems of hundreds of small flowers, in the colors of the rainbow, up.

A gentle smile graces his face as he basks in his own magic, “I feel it too.” 

This picture of Kyungsoo laying on the ground next to him, happy and contented, pulls Jongin’s heartstrings in the right way, reminding why he stays by Kyungsoo’s side, day after day.

Because day after day, he falls deeper into Kyungsoo, the love that he has for the older consuming him, until someday he’ll suffocate in it —and he’ll be thankful.

∞ ∞ ∞

_ A young boy, taken away by his mother, left by his father, shall grow up well; kind and forgiving, guided by the greatest, the Ruler of Fire, the passionate and encouraging Firmas. Thru trials he should grasp what is truly important, determinedly going forward, learn that pure selflessness is not what the true descendant of Skeliail is made of. His counterforce, the baby born with a flower crown of the blood of Eserith, shall levelheadedly find the truth from within, actively craving for resolution, and when it shall be found, he should run, run boldly, influenced by the greatest, the Ruler of Fire, the dishonest and jealous Firmas. _

##  III

“Don’t you have anything else to do than laze around all day long?”

Jongin pretends to think, “No. The performance team isn’t actually very needed during a drought so...”

Kyungsoo just rolls his eyes and gets up, done fixing the roses.

“Do you mind that I’m here?” Jongin asks carefully.

It takes time, but Kyungsoo eventually relents under the taller’s eyes, “I don’t.”

“See? Nothing is a problem”, Jongin starts, “Do you wanna come and eat with me?”

He doesn’t know when, but somehow talking to Kyungsoo got easier after the days he has spent with him, and he doesn't need anymore to think excessively how to hang out with the older without seeming too interested.

“I’m sorry, I can’t today”, Kyungsoo looks genuinely apologetic, “I have been invited to eat with Junmyeon and his family.”

“Oh, maybe some other day then?” Jongin continues like nothing is wrong.

He has been preparing himself for this, for sometime now, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt like a bitch. The invite is a clear sign that the Royal Family is interested in Kyungsoo, enough to personally find out what is he like.

The change of air hasn’t been clearly noticeable around Junmyeon and Kyungsoo, but he’s close with both of them, so he had a hunch that maybe there was something more going on. Although he saved himself from some pain by not asking either of them directly.

“That sounds good!” Kyungsoo responds, “I think it’s time for me to go now.”

“I can keep you company for some of the way. I’m going back to my room”, Jongin offers as he doesn’t want to part ways just yet.

Kyungsoo agrees and they make their way towards the castle, together.

Jongin can feel that Kyungsoo’s uneasy —most likely because of the dinner—, judging from the sighs he lets out. When the younger opens the door for Kyungsoo, he looks borderline reluctant to step in. 

He doesn’t say anything, knowing it’s not his place. He has warned Kyungsoo already once before and that should be enough. Kyungsoo is older than him and is capable of making the decisions he deems right.

They part ways without saying anything, Kyungsoo being too immersed in his own thoughts to notice. Jongin’s chest feels heavy, but he continues the way to his room. 

Taking a glance out of the window, he feels the burden on his shoulders getting bigger. He knows the situation the three Kingdoms are in, but the visual reminder is stark. The lands are brown, the Royal Gardens and the area around it being exceptions, staying green only with Kyungsoo’s magic and his constant care. 

The river running on the borders of the three Kingdoms is drying, slowly, but surely as it’s the last source of fresh water to them. Even magic doesn’t help that much anymore, as the powers are weakening in everyone —his own magic included.

The situation is going fast downhill, and Jongin can’t do anything else but trust in Skeliail and watch by the sidelines as Kyungsoo and Junmyeon fall in love.

∞

The blue flower on his windowsill is always the first thing Jongin looks at in his room. Seeing it gives him comfort and reassurance to calm down and think rationally. The next thing he checks is the top of his desk because that’s where the letters from his mom are left.

There haven’t been new letters in months, but today there’s a card left there. He takes it and returns to the Royal Gardens to read it. It’s his tradition, to open and read the letters outside, surrounded by the nature.

It’s not the first card he has gotten from her, but they are rare. The picture is a painting of two flowers intervened —he recognizes both of them. The bigger, blue flower is the same he has on his windowsill and the smaller white flower is the same species as the ones in Kyungsoo’s crown. 

He turns the card around, knowing what topic the text talks about. Him and Kyungsoo.

The familiar handwriting of his mother greets him.

_ Love, _

_ You’ve been through a lot these past months, haven’t you? _

_ I have been so proud of you and and the way you’ve handled  _

_ the situations and feelings you faced. These are decisions  _

_ that everybody has to make alone, so I’m not going to tell you _

_ what you should do. I want you to do what feels right, what _

_ your heart tells you to do. The only thing I’m going to remind _

_ you of, is something you said yourself: _

_ For yourself, sometimes being selfish is okay. _

_ You will hear from me soon, hopefully, _

_ Your mom, S. _

Jongin reads the lines again and again, until he knows them almost by heart. The quote is what he said to Kyungsoo, to remind him that in the end, he has a choice.

Kyungsoo didn’t choose to be selfish and continued doing something that burdened him. He’s now sitting there, having dinner with Junmyeon, even if that’s not something he really wants.

His train of thought freezes as he realizes. He is the exact same.

He’s here, alone, continuing to pine over Kyungsoo and hurting himself in the process. He always convinced himself that he was being selfish by letting Kyungsoo be free, instead of fulfilling the prophecy, but he was lying to himself. That’s nothing like being selfish.

Something in him snaps and he decides to fuck it. This is not it. Nobody is happy and nobody will be happy if this continues. Not he, Kyungsoo, Junmyeon, or even Skeliail. 

Kyungsoo is the one he wants, the one thing he’s not willing to let go. For this one time, he’ll be selfish. He’ll take everything that is rightfully his. He’ll fulfill the prophecy and take his place in the Royal Family. He’ll make his mom proud and unashamed to be the former queen and the mother of Jongin.

He leaves the card there, sprinting out of the gardens.

∞

“Jongin!”

Kyungsoo is running down the steps in front of the castle, repeating his name over and over again. Jongin slows down his speed just enough to make the impact of their bodies less painful. 

They meet couple hundred meters before the castle and Kyungsoo locks him into a bone-crushing hug. Jongin doesn’t know what’s going on and Kyungsoo starts to ramble, breathless.

“I was sitting there, pretending that everything was great, when it wasn’t great. I didn’t want to be there”, he pulls back enough to look Jongin in the eyes.

“I remembered what you said of being selfish and- and I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I wanted to be selfish. I wanted to leave and I wanted to be with you. It became too much and I couldn’t pretend anymore. I couldn’t — _I didn’t want to_ — pretend that I was happy and that Junmyeon was the one I wanted to be with. I couldn't pretend anymore that I didn't see my flowers being peachy, the color of love after I spent time with you. I couldn’t lie anymore. I couldn’t lie to myself anymore”, Kyungsoo’s eyes get blurry and his voice shakes.

“I couldn’t, _no_ , I can’t lie anymore. It’s you, the one I want. Fuck prophecies, I want you. Your annoying remarks and your loud laugh. It has always been you. How it even could be anyone else, when you’re right there with your perfect eyes and your perfect smile and your perfect personality and perfect massages and perfect words, making me fall harder each time?”

His tears finally fall. 

“I just fucking love you so, _so_ much that I can’t express it.”

Somewhere in the middle, Jongin started trembling, being overwhelmed by all the emotions consuming him. 

He smiles dumbly at Kyungsoo, who tries to blink the tears away, but they aren’t stopping anytime soon.

“You were my first love, Kyungsoo, are my current love and will be my future love with those curious eyes and those nose crushes and that heart-shaped smile. Not even mentioning how your actions and words make me love you even more than it is possible to love someone.”

Kyungsoo smiles trough his tears at Jongin’s words.

“I love you too, and I’m not planning to let you go, ever, I’m too selfish for that”, Jongin whispers and leans to kiss Kyungsoo.

It’s nowhere near ideal, their faces wet and salty because of the tears they are shedding, but it’s perfect for them. 

It’s a simple press of lips, their lips fitting together like they were meant to be. Both of them want to savor the moment, refusing to let go. Jongin’s hands are on the back of Kyungsoo’s neck and his arms are locked around the taller’s sides.

An impulse of magic forces them to end the kiss sooner than they would’ve wanted, both confused. 

“What was that?”

“Don’t you feel it? The tingling in your body?” Jongin asks and Kyungsoo nods, “That tingling is magic, and we’re filled to the brim with it.”

“It came from us, right?” Kyungsoo’s confused. This was not supposed to happen, “I-“

He gets interrupted when a telepathic message fills their heads. They listen to it in silence before Kyungsoo speaks out.

“‘ _A young boy, taken away by his mother, left by his father_ ’  and ‘ _learn that pure selflessness is not what the true descendant of Skeliail is made of_ ’ ”, Kyungsoo tests the words in his mouth.

Jongin can see the moment when the puzzle pieces click with Kyungsoo. His starts to cry again, his eyes pushing the old tears away, making room for new tears. He cups the back of Jongin’s head with his hands, “It’s you Jongin? It’s you, _right_?”, Kyungsoo's voice is nearly desperate, breaking in the middle.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“I’m not entirely sure how, but I’m sorry Jongin, _I’m so sorry_ ”, Kyungsoo sobs, “I didn’t let the nature take its course.”

“What do you mean, love”, the endearment slips even without Jongin meaning to say it, “Can you tell me?”

“Years ago we had our own prophecy, it- it told that I’m supposed to unite all the magic and end Skeliail’s prophecy with the blood of Skeliail. I tried to do that _so hard_ , that I forgot”, Kyungsoo inhales sharply, “I forgot the part where it said: ‘ _disregard rationality and accept the nature to take its course without interruption_ ’  I messed up, Jongin.”

Jongin can't bear to see the look on the older's face, as it hurts him to see Kyungsoo so broken. Jongin gathers the shaking male into his arms, squeezing him reassuringly. Just like he thought, Kyungsoo's head is like made to be buried into Jongin's shoulder.

“No, Kyungsoo. You didn’t mess up. If you tried your best, then you did enough”, he hugs Kyungsoo closer to him, “To me, you could never mess up. Everything is going to be fine, because we're together now. We'll end the prophecy, together.”

He can feel Kyungsoo's lips move against his neck, "How? How are you-?", he takes some time as he sniffles through his words.

"My mother is the former Queen, Kyungsoo."

That makes the smaller to pull, back, his eyes wide as a plate. He tries to form something sensible to say from his shock, but the only thing he musters is, "But- that, doesn't that make you- you-"

Jongin just chuckles at how precious Kyungsoo is, before completing the sentence, "The Crown Prince? Yes, it does."

This time it’s Kyungsoo who leans in first. It’s messy, but filled with their emotions, teeth clashing and hands pulling the other closer. 

To Jongin, Kyungsoo tastes like the best of desserts, but even better. He's soft and compliant under Jongin's mouth, but not in a way that makes him a lazy kisser. His lips mold against Jongin's and they're perfectly plump, making him want to bite them. He probes Kyungsoo's mouth with his tongue, loving the soft sighs he's letting out. Testing the back of the earth magician's teeth with his tongue, he relishes in the way Kyungsoo's body shudders.

He threads his fingers through Kyungsoo's hair, angling his head to the movements of their mouths. His other hand is kneading the low of Kyungsoo's back, trying to make him relax more. He likes the way Kyungsoo's cold hands feel against his warm waist, where they're wondering up and down.

At one point Jongin pulls back enough to breathe deeply in and chuckle, “Kyungsoo, there’s no need to cry anymore”, but when Kyungsoo casts him a weirded out look, Jongin knows.

He looks up to the sky, feeling droplets of rain hitting his face. He doesn’t know what changed, but he doesn’t care. He bursts out into a relieved laughter and Kyungsoo soon follows.

“Hey, Jongin?”, Kyungsoo gets his attention again, he's still breathless from both kissing and laughing “There’s a flower growing from your head.”

Kyungsoo’s blush deepens when he points to the side of Jongin's head and Jongin knows he’s serious. He reaches to touch the place where Kyungsoo’s hand was, and he can feel a small flower there. He doesn’t say anything but his face probably tells of his confusion.

“We have this one legend in Soidin", he starts, looking away, "Those who carry a flower crown, are able to turn a seed of love into a mark of eternal love —a flower like yours. The seed belongs to one of my flowers and only my magic is able to plant it and make it bloom. That can happen only if the one receiving the seed is my other half, the flowers symbolizing two people sharing a heart", Kyungsoo clears his throat and wipes some of the water from his face, "It's considered like a marriage, but you can't divorce."

“So our love is eternal?” Jongin asks, over the moon, knowing they were meant to be.

“Basically, yeah”, Kyungsoo is sheepish, but he can’t be long because Jongin lifts him of off his feet and spins him around. Droplets of water sprinkle around them from their clothes and hair, but they don't care. Why would they?

“I love you, Kyungsoo!” He says and kisses his forehead, when he finally puts Kyungsoo back down after the older protested long enough. They’re both soaking from the rain and they aren't the only ones.

Some people have gathered outside, celebrating the rain. Some are whispering about them, and only now it occurs to Jongin how his life is going to change completely. Kyungsoo seems to notice the change of his mood, so he just squeezes the hand he's holding tightly.

For a second Jongin was concerned, but he knows he can get through everything with Kyungsoo by his side. He's never going to regret the choices he made, because those choices brought them together —after a few setbacks, but together anyway.

He lifts their linked hands and kisses the back of Kyungsoo's hand, before pulling him closer. He hugs Kyungsoo closer and one by one kisses each peach-colored flower on Kyungsoo's head. It makes the shorter squirm, but Jongin doesn't let go.

"What?" Kyungsoo asks after Jongin finishes his task.

Jongin just gently smiles and pecks his lips, "Nothing. I just love you."

It makes the blush rise on Kyungsoo's wet cheeks again, and he slightly slaps Jongin's arm, "You don't need to say it every ten seconds", his voice gets quieter, "I know it already."

"I know", Jongin smiles, "But I want to-"

He gets interrupted as the air rumbles around the three Kingdoms before a voice speaks up.

“ _T_ _he skies are to fall, the faults of the man forgiven, when the blood of Skeliail is bound to the truest of their love, gone misinterpretation, only left the lesson form the greatest, the Ruleress of the Skies, the impulsive and demanding Skeliail_ ”,  her voice can be heard everywhere and anywhere, just like she is present everywhere and anywhere.

“ _ The prophecy has been filled by my true descendant, the son of King Kim Ju-Oh and the former Queen Kim Se-Lin, by the Crown Prince Kim Jong-In _ ”, her voice booms, making sure everybody knows who he is.

But Jongin doesn’t care about that, he had fallen to his knees the moment she started speaking. He’s crying big, fat crocodile tears, because the final piece of his life has been filled. He shouts, as loud as he can, to the sky.

“Mom? Is it you?”

“ _ Yes, Jongin, my love. It’s me _ ”, she speaks, softening her voice, sounding exactly like she did eighteen years ago.

“I- I don’t- Mom, what do I-?” Jongin stutters, shaking uncontrollably. Kyungsoo wraps his arms around the taller and strokes his hair.

“ _There's no need to cry, my love_ _. Everything is okay. You two should come visit me —I can’t wait to meet Kyungsoo. I'll be in contact _ ”, she promises and the air rumbles again, signaling that she has gone.

Kyungsoo just laughs, his own eyes wet, from more than the rain. He kisses Jongin's temple briefly and hugs him closer, “Your mother is something more that just the former Queen, Jongin”, before adding, “I wonder if she's going to attend our wedding as your mom, or as a Supreme Power?”

Jongin's chuckle is pathetic, but he manages to respond, "My mom, of course, _duh_."

Kyungsoo laughs louder, feeling affection fill his heart at the mere thought of getting to spend his eternity with Jongin, of all the people, "I love you _,_ Jongin. You know that, _right_?"


	2. epilogue: eternal dance on the lands of the unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> epilogue... that's it

Jongin rub his eyes, the soft sheets sliding against his skin as his jaw hangs loose. It’s dark, no light filtering into their bedroom but the face full of awe before him is unmistakenly his own.

It’s the middle of the night, Kyungsoo’s breathing steady next to him, pure white flowers swaying languidly like they always do when the older dreams. Everything is like it should be, except for the presence of the ‘other’ Jongin clad in a weird shiny fabric, darker than any he has ever seen, sitting on the bedframe.

“You look rough, my guy”, the figure speaks with his voice, almost identical. The other Jongin has a new undertone to his speech, kind of what his mom has — power to be heard through the lands in it.

Jongin has to pinch himself, as this is all too real and accurate to be a dream, but too absurd to be the reality. Did he eat something dangerous last night?

“This is so fucking cool.” The dark clothes sift as the stranger slides down gracefully, air embracing his landing in a way that Jongin can only dream of. The other him notices and smiles, eerily like his own grin. “Watch this.”

Jongin should not indulge in this second-reality, whatever it really is, but it’s too tempting not to. The other rests his hand directly where he sat just a moment ago, puckering his lips and drawing in a quick breath, clearly using his magic as the entire bedpost disappears.

If it was not for Kyungsoo asleep next to him, dead-tired after their month-long trip to Eserith to see his family and strengthen the political affairs between their countries, Jongin would’ve scrambled up on the bed to reach for the empty air.

“It- It’s not there?! What, where is it?” Jongin whisper-yells, now completely sure this is a dream, a wild one at that. “There’s not a scar, you didn’t teleport it.”

It’s impossible to teleport things alone as they don’t have a sense of direction, but it’s the most plausible solution — if the air had a scar, which it doesn’t. The other him barely contains his laughter, minding the oldest in the room as he bends in half, giggling.

There’s a mand man in their bedroom and Jongin can’t even alert the guards as the intruder seems to be he himself. How did the other Jongin even get past the guards on the other side of the door, or the many surrounding the castle, with clothes that they don’t have in Vapolune?

“We are Supreme Powers, Jongin”, he wheezes, “And I have the ability to undo an existence.”

“What?” Jongin hisses. Yes, he is his mother’s son, but he barely manifests all Skeliail’s five skills, let alone ‘undoing’. Luckily, he manages a few of them more than well, useful now. “Put it back. I order you.”

“And what? You’re going to freeze me?” The man in his flowy robes ignores Jongin’s order with a downgrading lift of an eyebrow, guessing right, slowly walking over to Kyungsoo’s side. There’s a fond smile on his lips, “You wouldn’t. Not when it would cost you warming our love to the point that he wakes up.”

Jongin unconsciously lifts a protective hand over Kyungsoo — as he won’t allow this intruder to come near his husband. The flowy fabric grazes the bed as the other him leans closer to the flower crown on top of Kyungsoo’s head, not minding the hand between them.

Like a hawk, Jongin watches as the other follows the line of Kyungsoo’s face, hand hoovering above to not aggravate Jongin.

“He hasn’t changed at all.” The other hums, smoothing his robes and locking eyes with Jongin, who’s almost mad. Changed from when? “I know what you thought; Changed from when? And the other Jongin answers: Since the future.”

Jongin gawks, their entire interaction flying over his head. Is hallucinating a sign of over-working? Is it normal to meet your alter-ego in a dream? Is he thinking about other him knowing his thoughts or is he the other Jongin thinking about what his current POV thinks? Even he’s getting confused which one is the real Jongin.

“Kyungsoo is calling me back now.” The other Jongin turns his eyes to the empty wall, lighting up as if there’s something to see. Jongin frowns, his husband huffing under his blanket soundly, nowhere near calling anyone, “Good luck, and before I forget; prepare yourself for the bluebird.”

Before Jongin can ask what that is, the other version of him grabs something invisible out of the air, and wraps it around his free fist, tugging. Blink of an eye, and he disappears with his shiny clothes — leaving Jongin confused and Kyungsoo drowsily reaching for him to lie down and cuddle.

∞

Kyungsoo gnaws his plump lip with his teeth as they make their way down to the great room per to Junmyeon’s request. His flowers are slightly tinted violet, a color Jongin now associates with nervousness.

It’s not like they normally act his anxious when his brother invites them, despite being the king of Vapolune. Junmyeon still treats them normally — Jongin as his brother and Kyungsoo as his dear friend. Besides, if it wasn’t for Jongin giving up on his title when the people demanded the old king to step down, their places would’ve been swapped.

It wasn’t a difficult decision, as Junmyeon had prepared to take over his entire life and Jongin wasn’t. He feels like he’s more useful traveling between the three countries, connecting with the folk, showing off and using the powers of Skeliail to help others. All while being with Kyungsoo freely and without any obligations on either of them.

So, when he and Kyungsoo received an official royal order to attend Junmyeon at the great room, they knew something was up. Jongin was invited as the highest-ranking person, The Holder of her Supreme’s Blessing, and Kyungsoo as the Royal Caretaker of the Lands, his new title after marrying Jongin.

Kyungsoo’s hand finds automatically Jongin’s, their eyes meeting as they reach the door. Jongin can read the uncertainty there, his own eyes mirroring it. The older is still pretty, regardless of the years they’ve spent together and the furrow of his brows.

“I’ll let you go first, feed you to the wolves first.” Kyungsoo attempts to lighten the mood, urging for the younger to move.

Offering a lop-sided smile, Jongin pushes the wooden door open and leads them inside. He can’t help but mutter, “Savage husband I have.”

“Jongin, Kyungsoo”, Junmyeon whips his head to them immediately, tearing the couple’s attention away from the mass of quests greeting them. Jongin nods while Kyungsoo bows beside him, both choosing to ignore the others until Junmyeon explains something to them.

Just by their attires and numbers Jongin can deduct they come beyond their three kingdoms. Most of them are glad in the same smooth and flowy fabric as the other Jongin he almost managed to forget already from his dream few weeks ago. They are only clad in the colors of reds, greens, blues, and browns, the ones familiar to Jongin. Only one of them, the one nearest to Junmyeon has that dark fabric wrapped around his tall body, the same as the other Jongin.

“This is him? Your god?” The tall man with big, curious eyes speaks before Junmyeon can start, directing his words clearly to Jongin. The man adorned in metals and stones of all kinds, to the point it seems heavy to carry, leans closer, sound of the jewelry clicking carrying to Jongin’s ears as the unfamiliar man inspects him, inquisitive. “You weren’t lying when you said you don’t like to flaunt your positions with your appearances!”

Jongin can feel Kyungsoo gripping his hand tighter and when he turns to look, Kyungsoo’s throwing very strict glances at the king. It makes him smile, despite his own confusion, too. _What is a god?_

“Ah… I suppose he is”, Junmyeon tries to navigate the situation, “Here’s the _emperor_ of Ruoco — the country beyond the great waters, His Greatness Chanyeol.”

Some of the confusion he’s feeling dissipates as Jongin gets confirmation to his assumptions. He has no idea what an emperor is, or what this place, Ruoco, is like — their three kingdoms content enough living and staying on the sacred lands of the Supreme Powers’ birthplaces to acquire information beyond the great waters surrounding them.

They have a collective understanding that there’s people out there, and the most curious of their lands do venture outside, rarely anyone returning. They usually don’t get visitors either, the Supreme Powers protecting their lands from the harms’ way: hiding them from those who don’t believe in their powers and those who are coming with impure thoughts.

It’s a miracle that this Chanyeol and all the people with him passed and were able to cross over their boundaries. Especially when they seem to be keen of their material possessions, judging their lavish attires and belongings.

“It’s honor to meet you. I’m Jongin, the true descendant and the son of the greatest, the Ruleress of the Skies, her highness, the Supreme Power, the kind and devoted Skeliail”, Jongin bows low, paying respects both to the flashy emperor as his roots, his mother.

Kyungsoo follows suit, introducing himself as well, both of them having done this countless times these past years, “The Royal Caretaker of the Lands, the husband of his highness the Holder of her Supreme’s Blessing, Kyungsoo, humbly greets you and bestows you with health and prosperity.”

The crowd roars, hitting their hands together led by their apparent leader Chanyeol. Junmyeon chuckles at Jongin and Kyungsoo’s appalled faces, waiting until the people calm down.

“It’s their way of showing encouragement and appreciation, right?” Junmyeon checks and Chanyeol nods eagerly. “His Greatness and his followers are very eager to know about the Supreme Powers, about the all-mighty beings they call _gods_. Meeting you is a wonder to them.”

Jongin feels a little bashful of the attention, for he doesn’t feel himself special. Like magnetic pull, he checks on Kyungsoo and backtracks. He’s special, but only because he’s the only one who can make Kyungsoo’s big deer eyes shine like that.

“That is correct!” Chanyeol agrees whole-heartedly, loud enough for his voice to echo in the full room, “We’ve known about your people’s magical abilities for centuries, in awe. We, on the other side of the _sea_ , lack godly guidance that you have and thanks to Sehun, we’ve finally arrived here, to meet your _Divinity_ in person.”

A person, probably as tall as Jongin steps out from behind Chanyeol, clad in white from head to toes, hair mix of gray and teal, complimented by his eyes — colored like the deepest shade of ice, streaks of aqua, like the water at Vapolune’s eastern coast, in them. He bows, used to their country’s customs.

Jongin stops wondering what these weird words _sea_ and _divinity_ mean, guessing by the context.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet. I’ve heard a lot about you two.” Sehun keeps his face zeroed as he regards them, glancing at their king for a moment before avoiding his eyes quickly.

“We…” Kyungsoo starts and hesitates right after. Jongin realizes he’s struggling to find what to answer as they can’t say the same. Sehun’s frown is an indicator that he caught the problem. “We’re pleased as well. We rarely get any visitors.”

Junmyeon steps between them, hands spread out and frantic as he, too, notices the different stage of communication. “You see, the thing is that Jongin and Kyungsoo have been traveling these days, you know? I didn’t find the right timing.”

Jongin feels a tickle on the left side of his head, a sign he and Kyungsoo are on the same wavelength. They turn simultaneously to each other, going through an exchange without any words. The flower crown on top of Kyungsoo’s head is yellow in amusement, his eyes glinting as the two of them try to hold in their smiles.

The king they know isn’t easily flustered, rarely panicky about anything. It’s clear as a day to Jongin that Sehun has been Junmyeon’s little secret for a while — although it’s nothing notably serious yet. Since when and how, that he doesn’t know.

“Sehun has been flying between our countries for a while now as my trusted friend and servant, telling us all about Vapolune and the Supreme Powers, as well as _the king_ ”, Chanyeol reveals, highlighting the end while revealing Sehun might not be as chill about Junmyeon as his outer appearance lets out. “He has loved your three kingdom’s stories from when he was a chick. It was only natural for me to allow him to be the messenger between us.”

“Have you really? Why didn’t you tell me before?” Junmyeon steps closer to the man with ice-like eyes that seem to be melting as they hold gazes, a surprised but fond smile on the king’s face.

“I wanted to learn stuff in real life, not read the etiquettes and beliefs from a book”, Sehun says as he traces the vines hanging on the wall with his eyes, voice turning defensive. “I might have wanted you to teach me. Is that a crime?”

A silence ensues, Junmyeon staring at the tall man with dumb-founded expression. Rest of them are enduring the awkward quietness of the room as they witness Sehun’s slight flush of cheeks when the shorter hides his smile behind his hand.

Kyungsoo wraps his arm around Jongin’s, pressing his face against the shoulder before him. His muffled giggles are clear to Jongin even through the layer of his clothes, making Jongin restrict his smile too. The whole situation is iconic, although there’s not really anything funny about it. At least they have the decency to hide their entertainment unlike Chanyeol who’s full-out grinning.

After a while Jongin deems it’s appropriate to clear his throat and open the conversation again, “Did you say flying? Are you, Sehun, of Skeliail decent?” It’d make sense how he’s so interested in their culture.

“Well… I don’t know. Maybe? Everyone is from the lineage of some Supreme Power, but it’s been thousands of years since my ancestors parted ways with the Sacred continent.”

“I don’t think that’s what Jongin meant. We don’t have people like you here, remember?” Junmyeon smiles, noticing what got lost in the translation. “Would you show them?”

The blue-haired man asks wordlessly confirmation from Chanyeol, receiving it immediately. The leader of Vapolune seems to forget his place in ranks for a moment, as he reaches around Sehun’s neck, taking off the bunch of necklaces one by one as the other carefully removes his earrings, handing them to the king as well.

Jongin has no idea what to expect since ‘they don’t have people like Sehun’ here, never seen a ritual like this before anything else than a workout. Junmyeon steps back, offering an encouraging smile to Sehun, eyes glued to the man in white robes — bare compared to his companions behind him.

For a moment, nothing happens.

Then, like struck by lightning, Sehun convulses gracefully, as contradicting as it sounds. The pulse coming from his core shakes his shoulders, rolling onto his limbs and head that all retract in a blink of an eye, molding into a graceful bird, clothes dropping to the floor in a heap.

The light shines off his sky-blue feathers and emerald details, icy eyes recognizable, though more bird-like than before. He flies around the hall easily, mostly gliding through the air with his majestic build, wingspan easily over two meters.

_Prepare yourself for the bluebird._

His other self’s words ring in his head as he observes the scene, Junmyeon’s eyes glimmering like the starry night as he follows Sehun flying over them, Kyungsoo steadily attached to Jongin’s side and Chanyeol full of glamour and lavish fashion presenting the unknown land with his crew.

Jongin faints as power like no other surges through him.

∞

_The half of a Supreme, half of a human, bound to the blood of Eserith, shall perish into the greatest, the Ruler of Time, the fair and firm Kai. Generously, the man with her Supreme Poweress, Skeliail’s blood will pay the ultimate price, understanding his last breath’s consequences as the flower crown beside him joins his eternal dance on the lands of the unknown, seeking for the skillful, forgiving guidance. The bluebird of ice is to be lost, to win the suave Supreme Power’s impartial and imaginable control over existence to the desired side, already seen by the Ruler of Time, the moody and pretentious Kai._

∞

They hold an emergency meeting while they dine, Chanyeol, Sehun and a few of their country’s other notable people allowed present.

Kyungsoo went through a breakdown once already — at the prospect of his husband dying, right after Jongin passed out and the prophecy was forced upon them. Unaware of what went down, Jongin woke up comfortably in Kyungsoo’s arms, his loud heartbeat thumping against Jongin’s ear, only registering the chaos surrounding them moments later.

At the orders of Junmyeon, the quests were to be escorted into their rooms, Kyungsoo and Jongin with them as the king took the matters into his own hands; calling the wisest prophecy-readers to decode the meanings. Without saying it, Jongin realized his older brother was concerned. For Jongin and Kyungsoo’s clearly tragic fate, as well as Sehun’s and Chanyeol’s part in it.

Now, he knows something, announcing it at the dining hall — judging from his face, that something is not great.

As the king keeps talking, Kyungsoo’s knuckles turn whiter around Jongin’s forearm, Sehun looking like there’s a storm above his head when Junmyeon’s own face darkens. All the while Chanyeol sits at the edge of his seat, eager and curious to know more, to learn about the prophecy he’s involved in.

What Junmyeon reveals to them is something Jongin has put together by himself already, like the most of them. All the three main points are obvious; Jongin will die, Kyungsoo following him; there’s a new Supreme Power they didn’t know about and Sehun needs to be exchanged so that his Supreme Power, Kai can control existence.

Jongin ponders if this is better or worse than the blackmail-ish prophecies he and Kyungsoo were tangled in few years back. Then all the three kingdoms were in a bind.

He’s not sure, but he feels like the missing bedpost has something to do with this case, but he can’t pinpoint what it actually is. The person he met was most likely Kai, but if his power is to control existence, it doesn’t seem impossible for him to pretend to be Jongin — though he did speak about things as if he really was Jongin himself; calling Kyungsoo their love.

But then again, if he met himself, it means he didn’t die like he’s supposed to. Unless there’s multiple versions of him. Does that mean Kyungsoo going to die alone? What about Sehun, _the bluebird of ice_ , how does he tie into the equation?

Why can’t he have answers to everything like his mother does?

Like an invitation, Jongin can sense Skeliail taking and accepting it. It’s the same as when he danced for her at Junmyeon’s first wedding, the same when she blessed Seulgi and Yeri’s marriage and when she visited the annual festival of Vapolune, to celebrate the country and her highness with it. The familiar warmth he gets from her presence and the sensory overload of being one with her are good indicators.

“So, I won’t get a hug now that you’re becoming like me? Are you finally at the phase of not wanting to appear close with your mom?”

Jongin turns to face her as she tilts her head, a scolding look in her beautiful catlike eyes. He returns her smile, grateful she heard him and relieved she’ll explain this to them — like she explained her position and story when he was small. He’s nothing more than a big mama’s boy, still.

Following Junmyeon’s lead, the entire room drops to their knees, Chanyeol’s head even thumping against the stone floor, golden clicking against it as his shiny robes get dirty. Jongin and Kyungsoo opt to stand up, nodding to her with respect as they know she doesn’t like people going overboard when she’s in this form.

“Oh, shush you guys. I’m here as Jongin’s mom, the former queen. Don’t overdo it.”

“I’m so, so honored to meet you, your highness, Queen Se-Lin, your Supreme power, Skeliail”, the emperor is up before anyone can blink, bowing a lot of degrees. Kyungsoo and Jongin exchange glances, amused at his enthusiasm. Jongin finds his all or nothing- attitude quite refreshing.

“You must be Chanyeol! Ruoco’s _silks_ are to die for”, she winks at Jongin like they have a secret inside joke. As her son avoids her eyes, ashamed of her humor, she turns to look at the rest, “No one?”

At the deafening silence in the dining hall, her golden eyes widen, and her mouth opens, almost comically but she’s too beautiful to call it that. She’s greatly astonished, before a frown replaces her look of surprise.

“How come you haven’t put two and two together?”

Kyungsoo lifts his pretty eyebrow at Jongin, questioning if he has something to say. Jongin might have, but he doesn’t know what.

“Okay, I see how it is. Sit down as I’ll give you a lesson”, she points a slim finger at the table, everybody complying without a word, awed by the once-in-an-eternity chance. “Jongin you are Kai. Kai is you.”  
  


“I guess… how?” Jongin has a million things to ask but goes with the most generic one out of them.

“You just accept that?” Kyungsoo turns to him, doe eyes big and put-off, nearly mad but more shocked than anything, “You didn’t think to tell me?”

“Love, it’s not like I _knew_. After the bedpost went missing, I knew I didn’t only hallucinate but I didn’t think it was this.”

“WE HAVE A MISSING BEDPOST?”

Jongin gawks at the flower-head, the color clearly being red on top of his hair. Kyungsoo didn’t notice it? “Secondary, but yes. We are short of one.”

Kyungsoo is about to retaliate when Junmyeon shushes them, throwing some meaningful glances at them and the people sitting around the table, most notably the former Queen.

“Oh, to be young and argue about bedposts — but back to business. If someone here doesn’t know, as much as it goes against every law known to man, Supreme Powers technically are nothing. Not nothing like the air that you can’t see, but nothing in the sense we do not exist. We simply not are, while we are everything.

“And my Jongin here, a half of him is nonexistent, so the only logical thing is for him to die so he doesn’t exist at all — with an asterisk. That asterisk is the Supreme side of him, that is and always will be despite being nothing at all. Confusing enough?”

Jongin swipes a look at the table, curious to watch the reactions. He gets it, not in depth, but he understands what she’s talking about, having experienced her being but not being for his entire life. Junmyeon frowns, as he takes mental notes unlike Sehun who’s clearly not ingesting any of the information. Chanyeol’s face screams curiosity, his jewelry resting on the table as he leans closer to it.

Kyungsoo beside him is hard to read, even his flowers are neural beige. “So, I’ll live after I die, but what about Kyungsoo, who joins my _eternal dance on the lands of the unknown_?” If Jongin has to leave Kyungsoo behind, he won’t become the Supreme Power, especially if their bond will cause Kyungsoo to wilt. “I suppose I can fool death — make Kyungsoo eternal with me, if I am to control the entire existence?”

“You’ve always been a fast learner, Jongin. Although, a small correction: you’ll _become_ death himself. You’ll be worshipped for it, as well as luck and fortune; justice and punishments; art, honoring your roots, and finally: life and the delicate beauty of it”, Se-Lin shows her pearly smile, blinding the weakest in the room, mainly Chanyeol.

“Can I ask something?” Chanyeol draws the attention to himself after regaining his senses, “What will Jongin’s powers be? And will others gain them, like the people of Vapolune share your powers?”

“I have a question too.” Sehun leans closer to the table, still stiff and serious, although the rest of them have loosened up some. “Why am I in the prophecy? How did I end up becoming a sacrifice, for someone whose name is righteous as it can be, meaning the king of kings, recovery and restoration?”

“Sehun…” Junmyeon turns to him, trying to take the taller’s hand, only for him to pull it away.

“Kai is already special, even in the scale of the Supreme Powers. He’s the first one to give a prophecy across time and space, meaning he can mend them to his will. He’ll have the power to undo, and he holds the strings of life and fate in his hands. Greater power than what me, Firmas, or Eserith have because he’s the only one who has seen and _lived_. It’s not a right just anyone can have, so I don’t think people will share his powers — other than his selected few, like Kyungsoo.

“And to answer our bluebird’s question; Junmyeon, I believe you have figured it out.”

Sehun whips his head to the king, followed keenly by the others as Junmyeon weights his words.

“Where is a land that believes in the Supreme Powers, but has no one guiding it spiritually? What place, and who will lose Sehun, if an exchange is to be made? I asked these from myself. I pondered, if Vapolune needed to let go of the descendant of Skeliail, what would be the cost? Eye for an eye, so to speak.“

“The apple of your eye exchanged with the apple of my eye. A fair game”, Chanyeol adds another metaphor, showing his capabilities as the emperor for the first time, back straight and calm consideration taken over his expression. “We’ll both lose, in order to win over something greater.”

“Wait, you aren’t saying that Jongin and Kyungsoo moving to Ruoco is equal to me moving here? Right?” Sehun stands up, offended at the thought he’s on the same level as an immortal couple, a Supreme Power, and his husband. “What is there to win with me?”

“Sehun, you’re unarguably beautiful and charismatic, and I’m sure you’re adored in Ruoco, so I’m even surer you’ll be loved here — a living proof of the unity between our countries. Besides, the greatest win won’t be that”, Kyungsoo reaches over the table, staring into the icy eyes of the shapeshifter, forcing the words into his head, glancing at Junmyeon with a barely hidden meaning, “Sometimes the greatest win won’t be anything grand, just one fragile feeling, and for you, it’s surely closer than you think.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> KYUNGSOO IS FREE AND THIS IS MY GIFT FOR YOU!
> 
> I did a writing miracle as I started planning this on Friday and posted on Monday -- though the price may be some grammatical errors... I originally thought that I'd take like a few weeks with this after taking a long break from writing but I guess not! The opportunity of Kyungsoo coming out of military too good not to post anything!
> 
> Some of you, who have read my other stories and my author's notes there, may be wondering: I thought she had an ongoing Kaisoo work that she'd release before she ventured to the epilogues of her old fics,,, what is this?  
> You're absolutely correct! I wrote a fic for the Kaisoo: Our Love As One -ficfest and one of the works is mine! (I don't know if I'm allowed to tell you even that before the authors are revealed, but like it should be okay if I don't tell which one is mine, right?)
> 
> SO: SELF-PROMOTION TIME!!!!!  
> First of all, go check out all the OLAO fics, even the upcoming ones, and when the guessing time comes, go vote which of the works is mine! I'm suuuper curious of can someone recognize my writing style.  
> Secondly, go check my other Kaisoo stories!  
> [1 in 10](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23750665/chapters/57041860) : Smut, eventual romance, soulmates, supernatural stuff, denial of feelings. Written for 2019 Kaisoo Day (epilogue coming, over 2 years late, I KNOW)  
> [The Fake Reality](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24305446/chapters/58590646) : Kinda like a social media AU!, DRAMA, romance, slow burn, light angst. Basically Kyungsoo takes part in a tv-show and falls for someone who may or may not be who they say they is because they can only text!! (epilogue coming as well,,, please read my bby, I spent my summer writing it :O)
> 
> And if you survived through my ramblings, THANK YOU FOR READING!!! Your comments and kudos always keep me going! Stay safe and healthy, hope your year will be amazing!<3
> 
> Ps. I might be itching to join another ficfest so... do you have suggestions?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, 
> 
> Thank you for reading this, and feel free to comment anything from questions to how this made you feel! I was asked to write an epilogue and I’m down if people want it —let me know if you’d want one!
> 
> Thank you again and please stay healthy,
> 
> -SwordOfQueen


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